Blue Stripe Pipefish Breeding Help!!

[Italeri]

Hey guys,

I have a pair of BS pipes that I have had for about 5-6 months ish. They have been doing great and hanging out together in my 125 gal SPS reef. They are eating frozen brine like nobody's business! Anyway, I was perusing through my tank yesterday and happened to notice my male's belly looked like it was about to EXPLODE! I hadn't fed for the day, so I knew that he was carrying little ones I have a 20L barebottom frag tank that I moved them both to, but I have never had any experience with raising these little guys, so I need all the advice I can get before my male starts coughing em up

 

[dsmhero]

Very cool. I do believe pics are needed

 

[Italeri]

I will take pics tomorrow when I turn my frag tank lights on

 

[TamiW]

Blue Stripe Pipefish release fry every 3-4 days, shortly after the lights go out. The parents are cannibalistic, so you have to remove the larvae before the parents do. They are very small when born, like tiny slivers of hair. Raising them requires pelagic copepods, most likely the nauplii. Jim Welsh has raised them successfully using fishbowl kriesels. They are positively phototrophic, so you can attract them to a larval snagger using a flashlight after the main lights go out. And while they are cannibalistic, you can catch them before the lights go on and the pipefish "wake up".

 

[Sexy Pat]

Nice Tami!

 

[CherryBlossom]

Can't wait to see pictures!

 

[Italeri]

Good news and Bad news guys........

Good news, my male released all the fry last night!
Bad news, the "baby fish holder" netting was too big, and they all got out into my frag tank and were either sucked into the overflow, or eaten by my orange spot filefish, my blue stripes, or my frags
More Good news, I was able to catch one in the craziness! and was able to get him into a Solo cup that he couldn't escape. It is floating in the frag tank for temp. Needless to say I am chocking this batch to a loss I will try to get this one to survive though! He made it through the night and is still moving around today I will be posting pictures as soon as I get home. I have some very small copepods that I will begin to throw in the cup to see if he will eat tonight

 

[Italeri]

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[Italeri]

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[Italeri]

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[Italeri]

Sorry about the bad quality pics! First pic is the night the male released his fry, the second is of the only fry I was able to save. (Its the little sliver in the bottom of the cup.) The third is the pair today afterwards.

 

[Bruce99]

Sorry about the bad quality pics! First pic is the night the male released his fry, the second is of the only fry I was able to save. (Its the little sliver in the bottom of the cup.) The third is the pair today afterwards.

How long did it take for them to grow? I’m in a similar situation

 

[nastronaut]

Jealous, my male is settling into the tank the past 2 weeks and they seem to be getting along, but no signs of mating yet.

Keep it timed out so you can try again every few days!

A grow up tank with a sponge filter, heater, and lots of small pods like tisbe (nauplii are pelagic while the adults stick to rock/sand/glass, generally) might work well and is my plan! I also have tigri growing but they're not as fast as my tisbe at reproducing, and are larger.